We will be driving from Bregenz to Dusseldorf at the beginning of Nov. I plan to spend 2 -3 days along the way. Any suggestion where should we visit? We like small towns with heritage, local market, nice scenery and interesting museum.

Thanks

Well the Rhine Gorge is smack on the way and lots of cute riverside towns to stay in.

I would suggest heading to Wurzburg and spending 3 nights there. It is 6 hours from Bregrenz to Dusseldorf through Wurzburg, which is prettymuch right in the middle.

You could use Wurzburg as abase for Rothenburg ob der Tauber Nuremberg, Bamberg, Dinkelsbuehl. You can then just drive straight for 3 hours to Dusseldorf, or head from Wurzburg over to the Rhine and "join it" around Bingen. That would add about an hour to the trip (4 hours Wurzburg - Dusseldorf), plus any stops (St. Goar, Bacharach) you might choose.

If you don't want to base yourself for 3 days, then stopping in Wurzburg, or Rothenburg, for 1-2 days and then St. Goar for 1-2 is also a possibility.

This would give you a nice mix of south central Germany and the rolling pleasures of Franconia, plus a trip along the most attractive section of the Rhine.

Look into the Rhine Valley and the boat trip down the Rhine to view the medieval castles.

Rudesheim is a quaint town and you could start there and go up to St Goarshausen by boat and return either by boat or train. You could also stop at any of the small towns along the way, like Bacharach.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%BCdesheim_am_Rhein

The KD Line runs cruises up and down the Rhein several times a day:
http://www.kdrhine.com/

Hi easytraveler

I like your suggestion for cruises but it does not operate in early Nov???

Hi, Europe:

Sorry, I don't have that information. They usually have a number of different cruiseslines plying the Rhine, best departure point is either Rudesheim, which is a tourist favorite, or St Goarshausen.

KD is the largest line and I'd suggest checking with them directly to see if they run any cruises in November or not.

There are several "smaller" lines that also do the same run - their boats usually aren't smaller, they just have less boats. Maybe one of them run cruises past the peak months.

I'll try to find a list, but the only cruiseline I've been on is the KD.

Early November usually isn't the time for river cruises - unless you like to sit inside the boat for the whole time.

Weatherwise, the Southwest of Germany and the Upper Rhine corridor (roughly between Basel and Karlsruhe) has the mildest climate.
You could go west from Bregenz to Basel, Freiburg, Strasbourg and spend some time in Alsace before you head to Düsseldorf.

As hardly anyone travels at that time of year, you don't need to plan ahead but can wait until you can get a decent weather forecast 3 days before your departure from Bregenz. And adjust the final routing according to local weather.